Drag The River – Bad At Breaking Up

It’s times like this that I get bummed when editors prefer large word counts in their record reviews. Rather than short, succinct reviews about a specific record that I didn’t particularly care for – written with reasonable kindness and a minimum amount of bloodshed – I’ve got to write at length about why I just don’t like something.

That said, I honestly don’t get the appeal of this band. I mean, a large part of that’s due to the fact that I don’t particularly care for country music, whether or not there’s an “alt” tag placed in front of it. With rare exceptions, it’s a genre that just doesn’t resonate with me. And yet, I’m apparently in the minority – at least within certain factions of ye olde punk microcosm, these dudes are immensely popular. Is it because of their punk pedigree – the fact that they feature members of All, Pinhead Circus and The Nobodys? The fact that it makes punks feel all cultured and open-minded and shit, watching other punks play country music? Or am I the one that’s out of touch and just doesn’t get it? Maybe it’s not entirely fair – Bad At Breaking Up is a singles collection, after all – but I found the majority of the stuff here, well, boring country music.

And yet, hypocrisy abounds: I recently raved and drooled over labelmate Austin Lucas’s release, Somebody Loves You, on this very site. But for whatever reason, Drag The Riverjust doesn’t resonate nearly as deeply. I’ve listened to this record so many times since I’ve received it, and after countless plays, I could tell you almost nothing about the songs on this collection.

Granted, there are some decent moments scattered here and there. The short and sweet “Re-Rangement” has a nice muted guitar sound throughout, and “This Star” is a damn strong, somber acoustic ballad. “Last One Standing” is a quiet but anthemic folk song with nice backup vocals. Unfortunately, these few moments are offset by, well, again, lots of country music. Like, cheesy, Conway Twitty-styled country ballads full of steel pedal guitars and lame, “the gal that got away” sentiments. I just don’t get the charm.

To their credit, it sounds like the dudes in Drag The River couldn’t honestly give a shit what I think – from all that I’ve heard about the band, it’s very much a part-time thing and a labor of love. Maybe I’ve missed something by not hearing a proper full-length first, but the way I figure it, most fans of the band already know if they’re interested in this or not. Me, I’m gonna have to pass.